- Phoenix team defence prevailed, shutting down the Pens for long periods- Malkin lost his cool tonight, hurt the team with stupid penalties. He has reduced the frequency of this, but its still part of his game- Pens Dmen like to use the "pre-emptive" hit when going back for the puck. When BOTH players engage each other its ok, but when its only the Pens D, its a penalty- Mike Smith played well for Phoenix, can see why he's Canada's #3- Out of sync - too many first attempt rushes got turned back, resulting in restarts further up ice with less room and speed- PK was very good, especially on the 4-3- Sid hasn't found/used his skating as much of late, hopefully its just a mid season funk- Sometimes, the Pens need a wakeup call. Big Orpik hit, a fight, big pk kill…. something. Tonight was one of those nights, but the wakeup call never came.

- I just noticed something new....The Pens get rattled and frustrated when teams play good team defense and physical against them...Novel idea!

Gear up for the playoffs boys. Every game...in your face, physical, team defense. Time to grow up and stop letting things get under your skin...This still concerns me majorly. I personally think that lack of maturity is the reason why Shero brought in Iginla and Morrow last year. Veteran leadership. Clearly it backfired, but I understand why he did it.

-Bylsma had that deer in the headlights look again last night. When Pens breakout/offense is being stymied, Disco looks like he is grinding his teeth while repeating, forcefully, the mantra in his head; "GET TO OUR GAME. GET TO OUR GAME. GET TO OUR GAME." Dan, the better coaches in the league got your game figured out buddy. Adjust, evolve, or better yet, take it elsewhere.

-Martin and Orpik - brutal again. When will DB hold these guys to the same standard that applies to Despres and Bortuzzo?? There is no way to make the argument that Paul Martin and Brooks Oprik, since they have returned, have been better than either of the hulking youngsters. 44 & 7 have been more than soft and, worse, have had numerous mental breakdowns each game that have lead to goals against. Just awful. Part of it is on Shero too. He needs to move one of these aging d-men to make way for the youthful exuberance and attitude that Despres and Bortuzzo bring. Get younger/bigger on D in the top 6 NOW = Tougher team to play against in April/May.

- Watching Ebbett and Adams bumble through another thoroughly unproductive night, I found myself wandering, what exactly have either of these guys done this season to take a sweater from Zack Sill? I know he is injured now, but Sill should not have lost his job and been sent down. He was at least finding a way to provide some of what they need from the bottom 6. Bad move RS.

-Unbelievably little league move by Disco to sit Engo so that all the guys get a turn in front of their mothers. Unimaginable that a professional coach would knowingly weaken his line up for such a reason in a game that counts.

- Crosby needs a legit NHL'er on his wing. Now. The experiments with Shero's smurfs and shifts with Disco's pets have to end. There is talk of Shero being likely to stand pat, not wanting a rental, etc. That absolutely cannot happen if this team has any hopes of winning 8 post season games, let alone 16. Dale Tallon is awaiting your call, Ray.

-The Coyote's style may not be a thing of beauty, but watching coaches like Dave Tippet masterfully coaxing the most of the talent they are given is a pleasure to these eyes. Watching it lead to a convincing win against a Dan Bylsma led team while the stars are either held off the scoresheet or melt down and parade to the penalty box; entirely too predictable. RS; what is past is prologue.

-"Day off today, optional gamer tomorrow? Whadduya think guys?? Would that make you like me?"

Last night was one of those games where the Pens seemed to have a good bit of offensive zone and a decent number of good chances, but couldn't score due to a combination of missed shots, blocked shots, good saves, lack of net-front presence, and lack of a scoring threat from the bottom 6. It wasn't a complete stinker like the Dallas game, but as others have mentioned, this sort of loss is too familiar.

Even with the almost certainty that they'll finish first in the division and the likelihood that they'll finish first in the conference, I'd be kind of surprised to see the Pens beat disciplined defensive teams in the playoffs.

Did not get to watch the game last night... I've read the post game report, and watched the highlights...

- I love that we've had the opportunity to play a few of the better defensive teams recently. We still have more than two months to get our mind-set right, and start playing more disciplined playoff hockey on a consistent basis. I think we've shown flashes of it throughout the season already (like three days ago against LA!). I'm glad to see a lot of our players making comments that they know this is what they will see in the playoffs, and they're happy for these games. I know it has been the case before in recent years with this core and this staff saying the same thing, but I'm optimistic with guys like Scuderi and Jacque Martin, this year can be different against a team like Boston in the playoffs.- Saw the comments about Malkin making stupid retaliations... frustrates me so much to see him, Neal, and Letang, and even Crosby at times not be able to shake this bad habit. Has to stop, because the playoffs are coming baby... and hopefully this is a just a good slap in the back of the head reminder that they better learn to deal with the tight physical games.- Agree it's frustrating to see Martin and Orpik look deficient since their come-back... I'm really hoping a lot of this is still rust and game conditioning. I thought Martin was our best defenseman before the injury.- While these games against the Western Conference are awesome to watch and fun since we don't get to see them as much, and we have found good success against the West... we better remember that we have to beat the East. That is goal #1. We have not been able to do it for about 5 years now in the playoffs. The guys that have been able shut us down (BOS, MTL), we better be mentally prepared to beat them.

I would ask the question... Were our guys going to the net last night and getting physical posting up in the crease? I believe it was Scuderi that made the comment "The perimeter game does not work come playoff time" before the game last night. Did anyone notice if we had a net front presence?

- Zatkoff should play every road game.- Teams need traffic and bodies in tight in a "half court" offense to beat teams like Phoenix. I don't think that Pittsburgh is built to score in that style. They score on the PP, on the transition game or in the moments off of transition before a team can right itself defensively. Five on Five, if a team is in solid defensive position, we struggle to score goals.- I don't mind that everyone gets into one of the two games on the mom trip, because there are at least 3 forwards who are useless every night, but Engelland isn't one of them.- Crosby looks disinterested, but he and Kunitz are alone out there of late. I mentioned in the GDT that Gibbons may be giving some folks the impression that he is a top six guy because he does things that stand out with his legs, but he is NOT making plays WITH his two all-world linemates. He is making them alone, with his legs and does NOTHING except miss them with passes on give and gos and the like.

~I didn't think Gibbons looked good last night at all. He had a bad turnover that lead to the 3rd goal; couldn't handle the puck very well, etc. But at the same time he was obviously the only guy on his line that was actually trying. Sid and Kunitz have been mailing it in lately, likely reserving themselves for the Olympics.

~Jokinen and Malkin skate around the offensive zone like men playing keep away from kids. But Neal looks pretty lost on that line, right now. If JJ and 71 are going to play together, should Neal move back up with Sid? He was dominant there in his brief stint.

~3rd line doesn't have anyone who can hold onto the puck. I don't think they possesed the puck in the offensive zone at all last night. Chip, chase, hit, skate back to neutral, defend. Repeat. That line needs either Bennett or Jokinen to help them get some zone time. It was the same problem last spring.

pcm wrote:~Jokinen and Malkin skate around the offensive zone like men playing keep away from kids. But Neal looks pretty lost on that line, right now. If JJ and 71 are going to play together, should Neal move back up with Sid? He was dominant there in his brief stint.

This is interesting. Some like to throw JJ under the bus, whenever that line fails to meet their expectations. That might be true at times, but it's certainly not always true.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing season after season and expecting different results. I know these guys have visions of Olympic gold dancing in their heads, but so do other teams and their compete level is just fine. I'd say about half the veterans lack focus and heart. The most fun I've had watching the Pens since their 2009 Cup run was when the rookies were winning this past December. Especially on the blue line, I really hope changes are made if they don't go far this season.

RxBandit66 wrote:The definition of insanity is doing the same thing season after season and expecting different results. I know these guys have visions of Olympic gold dancing in their heads, but so do other teams and their compete level is just fine. I'd say about half the veterans lack focus and heart. The most fun I've had watching the Pens since their 2009 Cup run was when the rookies were winning this past December. Especially on the blue line, I really hope changes are made if they don't go far this season.

A change needs to be made now. Everyone can see this team needs forwards. They clearly played best defensively with the younger guys. You don't have to go with a total youth movement back there, but move an older guy for the forward help. Clear space for the hungrier, younger legs.

I don’t believe that Sid is uninterested or mailing it in because he’s saving himself for the Olympics. That would be completely out of character for him. Judging from Shelly Anderson’s post-game report, he was not taking the loss in stride and needed some time to collect himself once the locker room had cleared, presumably to deal with the emotions that had been stirred up by the loss or by the way he and the team had played. The bottom line is, he was not a happy camper.

-This was a fairly evenly played game. Phoenix got the bounces for their two goals and the Penguins made the mistake for the third goal against.-Reminded me a little of the games against Boston earlier this year. Phoenix didn't really do anything amazing offensively. They got their goals on point shots with traffic in front just like Boston always seems to score against us (and everyone else). They bounce off a skate or stick and end up in the net. Then their goalie played very well. Pittsburgh did something dumb to give them an odd man break and they scored on it. -Martin has been getting sucked too far up the ice since he returned. I have no clue what he was doing on that third goal. Just dumb.-The Gibbons/Kunitz/Crosby line hasn't been great. Gibbons needs to finish and that line is just a little off. -Neal is getting chances too and he's just missing the net. He needs to get back to finishing.-Malkin and Neal went a little crazy again at the end. They need to get that under control. They are of no help in the box.-Both teams played pretty well. The other team got some breaks and took advantage of the one mistake. It happens.